Scientists say the Trump administration’s policies have led to major changes and uncertainty about scientific efforts and accomplishments.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
The Trump administration’s cuts to federal research funding have left many scientists in a precarious place. Harvest Public Media’s Kate Grumke asked researchers in the central U.S. how they’re adapting.
KATE GRUMKE, BYLINE: A pontoon boat loaded with scientific equipment motors across a small lake in central Missouri. University of Missouri associate professor Rebecca North is having her perfect day.
REBECCA NORTH: I love being out in the field, and we don’t get to go out as much as we like.
GRUMKE: It was a warm day for December, but still cold enough that the boat has to break through ice to get to a test site.
(SOUNDBITE OF ICE BREAKING)
GRUMKE: North and her team are here to get an overall idea of the health of this private lake. But today, something is different. For the first time, she’s being paid by a homeowners’ association. North lost federal funding for multiple projects last year, so now she’s looking for new ways to cover the cost of research.
NORTH: For the first time in my scientific career, I have a GoFundMe or a donation button on my website.
GRUMKE: She’s not alone. Scientific efforts have changed dramatically under Trump’s second administration, according to interviews with more than a dozen scientists in eight states. They say Trump slashed the federal scientific workforce, canceled thousands of federal grants and clamped down on specific subjects like climate change and environmental justice.
BONNIE KEELER: It’s been really, really tough.
GRUMKE: Bonnie Keeler is director of the Water Resources Center at the University of Minnesota. In the last year, she had three major federal grants terminated, totaling more than $14 million in lost funding. She says the abrupt termination of these projects wasted taxpayer money.
KEELER: It’s a terrible way to end a research project, given no advanced warning or opportunity to meaningfully wind down the work.
GRUMKE: But in some cases, that work will go on. Outside organizations are trying to fill gaps, including Climate Central, a U.S.-based nonprofit. Kristina Dahl is the group’s vice president for science.
KRISTINA DAHL: So many parts of the climate and weather enterprise in the federal government have been decimated.
GRUMKE: In the last year, Climate Central started doing multiple things the federal government used to do, like publishing a list of billion-dollar disasters and holding monthly climate briefings. But Dahl says organizations like hers won’t come close to filling the void.
DAHL: Even collectively, all of the U.S.-based climate and environmental nonprofits don’t have the same capacity as the federal government.
GRUMKE: Doug Kluck is one of the many former federal scientists who left their positions in the last year. After 33 years at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, he retired early because he was afraid of being fired and losing health benefits for his special-needs son. He says the last year has been a little like the Dark Ages, but he doesn’t think it will last.
DOUG KLUCK: You can downplay climate change all you want. You can call it something else. It doesn’t really matter, and we’re all going to be affected by it, whether we like it or not. And I’m not saying this is a belief system. This is a pure science and physics issue.
GRUMKE: Trump spokesman Kush Desai told Harvest Public Media in a statement that the American government is the largest funder of scientific research, and the administration is, quote, “committed to cutting taxpayer funding of left-wing pet projects.”
For NPR News, I’m Kate Grumke.
(SOUNDBITE OF ADAM BEN EZRA’S “TAMING THE BULL”)
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